What Is a Simplified Employee Pension Plan? How SEP IRAs Work

What is a SEP IRA?

A SEP IRA, or Simplified Employee Pension, is a type of individual retirement plan geared towards helping business owners and self-employed individuals to save for retirement. It's similar to a traditional IRA, in that contributions are tax-deductible for the business. Investments grow tax-deferred until retirement, when distributions are taxed as income.

SEP IRA contribution limits

In 2024, you can contribute up to $69,000 into to a SEP IRA, but there are limitations. SEP IRA annual contribution limits cannot exceed the lesser of:

• 25% of compensation.

• $69,000 in 2024.

The first limit, 25% of compensation, is also the limit for how much you can contribute for each eligible employee. The amount of compensation you can use to calculate the 25% limit is limited $345,000 in 2024. Employer contributions need to be made by the due date, including extensions, of your federal income tax return.

There's no catch-up contribution at age 50 and older for SEP IRAs.

SEP IRA rules: Who is eligible?

Generally, SEP IRAs are best for self-employed people or small-business owners with few or no employees.

Here's why: If you have employees whom the IRS considers eligible participants in your plan, you must contribute on their behalf, and those contributions must be an equal percentage of compensation to your own.

• Eligible participants are employees who are 21 or older, have worked for you for at least three of the past five years, and have made a minimum of $750 in 2024. For example, if an employee worked for you in 2021, 2022 and 2023 and made $850, you would need to make a contribution for them for the 2024 plan years.

• If you want to stash away 15% of your compensation for yourself, you must also contribute 15% of that employee's compensation to their plan. Note that this is just an example — SEP IRAs are subject to contribution limits listed above.

• Employees own and control their own accounts.

Because of that rule requiring equal contributions as a percentage of compensation, a SEP IRA is generally best for self-employed people or small-business owners with few or no employees.

» Are you on track for retirement? Check our retirement calculator to find out

How does a SEP IRA work? The pros and cons

How do I open a SEP IRA?

It's easy to open a SEP IRA account online. The first step is to choose an account provider.

» Find the best IRA account for you

Then, the IRS outlines three steps for setting up your SEP IRA:

1. Create a formal written agreement. You can do this with IRS Form 5305-SEP or through your account provider.

2. Give eligible employees information about the SEP IRA. You can give them a copy of IRS Form 5305-SEP or get similar information through your account provider.

3. Set up separate SEP IRAs for each eligible employee with the account provider.

How do I invest my SEP IRA?

Once you’ve opened the account, you can choose from the investments your account provider offers. The selection typically includes stocks, bonds and mutual funds. (It's possible to open an IRA at a bank, but generally you'll be limited to investing in certificates of deposit, which usually offer a lower return than a diversified group of stocks and bonds.)

» Want more IRA investing lessons? Read our post on how to invest your IRA.

Once the account is open and funded, consider investing it according to your age, planned retirement age, and risk tolerance. If you have a fairly strong stomach for market swings and a long time until retirement, think about swaying your investment selection toward stocks, specifically stock index funds, which track a segment of the market and hold a diverse mix of stocks within that segment.

The less time you have until retirement — and the less patience you have for a market downturn — the more you might want to allocate toward bonds and bond funds. You can also buy index funds for bonds.

» Thinking about the future of your business? Learn about succession planning.

SEP IRA vs. Roth IRA

Both a SEP IRA and Roth IRA offer tax benefits when you retire. The main difference between a SEP and Roth IRA is that SEP IRAs offer tax-deferred growth on your investments, while Roth IRAs give you tax-free growth and withdrawals in retirement.

Contributions to SEP IRAs are tax deductible. You can't deduct contributions from a Roth, because you already paid taxes on the money before adding it to your account. Another major difference between a SEP and Roth account is that you can include employees in a SEP IRA and make contributions for them. You can't do that with Roths, and they may be better for self-employed individuals for that reason.

SEP IRAs also have higher contribution limits (up to $69,000 in 2024) than Roth IRAs ($7,000 in 2024). The bottom line is, both accounts can be suitable for business owners. It's just that they have different types of tax advantages, and SEP IRAs may be more suitable for companies with multiple employees.

SIMPLE IRA vs. SEP IRA

A SIMPLE IRA, or Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees, is a retirement savings plan for employers and self-employed people. Some of the eligibility requirements include having no more than 100 employees who earned at least $5,000 in the previous year. The main difference between a SIMPLE IRA and a SEP IRA is that only employers are allowed to contribute to SEP IRAs, but employees can contribute to SIMPLE IRAs through their paycheck via elective deferrals.

Another core difference is that the SIMPLE IRA employee contribution limit is $16,00 in 2024, with a $3,500 catch-up for those 50 and older. The SEP IRA contribution limit is up to $69,000 in 2024.

» Read more about SIMPLE IRAs